Interesting stuff from Mort

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Just thought I'd share. Not starting rumors, this is what Mortensen said on the radio in Atl this morning. I consider Chris to be a measured and intelligent voice on the NFL....I know that he can't see the future, but ...

Just thought I'd share. Not starting rumors, this is what Mortensen said on the radio in Atl this morning. I consider Chris to be a measured and intelligent voice on the NFL....I know that he can't see the future, but his insight is top notch in my book.

Mort said that the Saints were more of a candidate to move before Katrina than they are now. He thinks the NFL REALLY wants to see that the Saints stay put as part of the rebuilding effort....more so than Benson does. He also said that the Saints will lose money in the books but that the league has programs in place to see that the money is taken care of. In other words, it sounds like Tom could cry wolf about revenue again even though the NFL will see that he gets his money this year.

He also said that,in the past, there were upgrades needed to the Colliseum in LA that weren't getting approved. Then, an earthquake came, cracked the structure and the upgrades were done as part of the repairs.
He sees the NO thing as similar on a larger scale.

Mort said that the Saints mean more to the city than possibly any city in America. And...that the displaced folks(those who often can't go to the game) absolutely adore their Saints and the league recognizes the negative PR associated with abandoning the big easy in its toughest times.

Said that Vick is 50/50 on sunday and that he didn't like the Bills matchup (for Atl)WITH Vick. Said this is not the kind of game you want Mike playing in against that D and that he sees it as a loss for Atl

Unfortunately, the Vikes own us, so we may both be 1-2 after the weekend.

If my memory serves correctly, we are on at least a 5 game losing streak against them. And...we have lost the AB versus Dante battle every time.
Losing moss certainly helps since he always toasted us. But...their season and Tice's job are hangin in the balance this Sunday. They could be primed for a meltdown, but I think they will turn in an inspired performance.

Our best hope is a couple of picks in the 1st half with the crowd turning on them. Then....we turn up the heat with our (as yet non existent) running game and put them away.

Hmmm - probably pretty good. All he has to do is go 5-5, and I think we can do that.

What is more important to me, honestly, is to see if the Saints can go better than 3-5 in BOTH halves of the season under Haslett. They've only been better than 3-5 both halves one year... guess what happened that year. LOL

He also said that,in the past, there were upgrades needed to the Colliseum in LA that weren't getting approved. Then, an earthquake came, cracked the structure and the upgrades were done as part of the repairs.
He sees the NO thing as similar on a larger scale.

8)

I hate to point out the obvious, but how is that working out for the NFL team(s) in LA?!

I hate to point out the obvious, but how is that working out for the NFL team(s) in LA?!

It has nothing to do with the NFL. It has to do with getting a stadium up/fixed/improved as a response to a disaster. This just speaks to what some have said which is that there will be more funds available via insurance money/federal funding/NFL inducements now.

The point is that the chance of building a new stadium as a result of a disaster may be better than they were pre Katrina. Let's say the Dome is condemned...then you get the money for the building via insurance money. The NFL kicks in some money and some of the federal disaster funds go toward the building (as the superdome was a pillar of the NO economic community...not just a place where the Saints play). I'm not saying all these things will happen...there are clearly bigger fish to fry than a place for the Saints to call home. I'm just saying that when the dust settles, there could be 500 million sitting around to throw up a new stadium.

There will be looser purse strings now, because of how massive the effort is. Half a billion was previously inconceivable and impractical from a Louisiana economics perspective....now, sadly, it's a drop in the bucket.

Yeah, I get cha: If this, if that, if, if, if. But the fact remains that no matter who funded the repairs to the LA Colisium, it was still unable to keep, not one, but two NFL teams. And they fixed the stadium, they still did not build another. Make no mistake, if they just fix up the dome, that will still not guarantee that Benson would stay.

I was simply citing another example where money was not available pre disaster that became available because of a disaster. And...I was just relaying what Chris Mortensen said. He thinks the Saints are staying. The flood could result in money being available that wasn't previously there. I don't care what LA pro teams did. Their market could not be any more different than New Orleans. I think the fixes to the coliseum were more for USC than any NFL team.

I never said that I thought a fixed dome would keep Benson in town. You missed a key part of my first post. The NFL is seriously concerned about a Benson exodus after the flood from an image standpoint. They do have alot of control over these things. As a league that represents the sports pulse of America, that is also a financial juggernaut, they do not want to be seen as turning their back on an American city in its darkest hour. That, coupled with disaster money which will be there to rebuild regardless of Benson's intentions, could give him the stadium that he has wanted without him having to deal with the state as much on funding. That's all I'm saying.

not helping as much as you can with Katrina efforts= you hate black people

At first it seemed dumb to call everyone in charge racists (when the real problems had to do with class), but now I like it. Why? Because if the NFL try to move the Saints they will be called racists.

The NFL is really paranoid to be called a racist. You would be too if most your employees were one color and most of your owners/supervisers are of another color. So the NFL can't let the Saints move.

In each state where they could move, there are two-three teams already there. That means at least two owners vote against it. The rest can be picked up with the racist thing.

Screw cheap Benson. Before Katrina he has N.O. over a barrel. Now his hands will be tied by the NFL (maybe even a government that is sick of being called racist) and he will just have to make $10 million this year instead of a hundred million.

Saints will remain in N.O., even if I half to call every black personality on T.V. and lead them on the trail of "moving saints= racist."